Client’s often run into difficulties in seemingly the simplest situations in China. One example is deciding on an officially registered office location. Often clients rent a room in hotel to be their registered office for a new company, but unfortunately, their application to establish the company is refused by the AIC because the registered office doesn’t pass muster.
I’d like to give all who has same problem with our client some tips regarding to choosing a proper registered office for a company as below:
Tip 1: Ownership & Planning Purpose
As a proper registered office for a company, the building must have a legally issued Certificate of Ownership and the designated use of the property must be stated in the Certificate of Ownership and must be consistent with the official Business Scope of the company to be established. For example, a residence may not be used as the registered office of a company.
When client’s come to me wanting to register their company in a hotel, I have to advise against it. In most cases a hotel is designated for catering service, gym, parking and accommodation, which means the hotel can’t be registered as the office of companies performing other activities, for example, consulting companies or manufacturing.
Tip 2: Several Companies Registered in the Same Address
According to the regulations of the AIC, closely affiliated enterprises are allowed to register in the same address. There are no explicit regulations on how many companies could be registered in one address, but, in general the government requires that there be at least one separate room with room number for each company using in the same address.
Tip 3: Leasing before the Company is Established.
If you want to rent a place for a company to be established, according to the requirements of AIC, the personnel who will serve as the General Manager or Legal Representative of the new company are allowed to sign the lease agreement on behalf of the new company even though the company technically doesn’t exist yet. Alternatively the shareholder may sign the lease agreement and then issue an authorization document authorizing the company to assume the registered office.